Last week, I walked from Elephant & Castle to Shoreditch and stopped by few touristy places. (It was raining quite heavily and I did not have an umbrella — and I walked almost like an hour… I think I was insane…) It was horribly tired day, but still I found interesting places in London — LeadenHall Market. Its historic architecture and uniformed design of every store inside the market building reminded me of Korean market street called In-sa-dong. I would like to introduce both markets to you all.

These specific scenes about Diagon Alley (top) and Leaky Cauldron Pub (bottom) were filmed at LeadenHall Market. Although now there are different stores in the same spot, doesn’t this already motivate you to visit here?

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Here Comes the Photos of Recent Shapes of Leadenhall Market!

여기서부턴 레든홀 마켓의 뜨끈뜨끈한 최근 모습!

(Above) These two sculpture on the ceiling seemed like a part of arts projects in London 2014. “Time here becomes space, space here becomes time” —they go along quite well with this historical marketplace.

천장에 쓰여져 있는 문구 장식은 2014년에 진행되었던 런던의 아트 프로젝트에 일환인 것처럼 보인다.

“이 곳의 시간은 공간이 되며, 이 곳의 공간은 시간이 된다.” 깊은 역사를 담은 전통 마켓에 굉장히 잘 어울리는 문구다.

Two pictures above are my favorites pictures of LeadenHall Market !! Not so sure why all the books are hanging right there.. Does anyone know about it??? Please leave a comment if you do!! The reason why LeadenHall Market reminded me of In-sa-dong place in South Korea, was its uniformed style of stores, as shown in the bottom photo. They prioritized the image/brand of LeadenHall Market to the stores’ individual characteristics — which makes LeadenHall Market more special and distinct, I believe. It is bit sad that stores that cannot promote in their own ways, but this kind of design makes the identity of LeadenHall Market much more clear.

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Then, what is its similarity with Insa-dong?

그렇다면, 인사동은?

In South Korea, there’s a similar street marketplace in which every store can only use Korean, instead of English, which has become a common language used in store signs. Honestly, I think this Korean sign movement should spread out more and more !! Also, from their exterior appearances, LeadenHall Market and In-sa-dong both look like they try to preserve the places in their own ways — almost like a planned street/area as part of urban planning.

This last photo is a bonus photo of Korean traditional village, called Bukchon village, right next to In-sa-dong. If you are traveling Seoul, this is MUST-VISIT-SPOT like "must must must - cannot stress more.

Please visit here if you are interested in looking up more photos of this Korean market place and traditional Korean village. Another blog in second link has more photos of Korean signs in In-sa-dong.

SOSUN'S FEEDLeadenHall Market has its long history (since 1300 and it even survived Great Fire). Specific details about its history as a market can be found here. In-sa-dong also has a very long history. (Check out this website! You can select English on top right corner.) Summary of history : In Chosun dynasty (one of Korean traditional kingdoms, 1392-1910), governmental arts department was located in In-sa-dong, so there were lots of popular artists living and working here. When Japan colonized Korea, many upper classes who lived in Bukchon area lost their jobs and money; then, In-sa-dong became like a marketplace selling their antique furnitures and valuable possessions. After colonization, many artists gathered in this place and opened galleries — this attracted other people to open traditional tea cafes and restaurants as well. A lot of must-visit places in UK are historical spots. I honestly respect how much UK cares about its history and about preserving its own identity. South Korea should learn this attitude & policies that respect and preserve one’s own traditional culture. In-sa-dong and Bukchon village would be two of the best examples that try to preserve Korea’s own identity among street marketplaces. Bukchon village has a lot of Korean traditional houses, called Han-Ok. You might be able to go inside of few of them and most restaurants, cafes, and galleries in this area also maintained traditional Korean styles. Hope these kinds of traditional marketplaces are preserved by every government in the world, and especially in South Korea